


Hero of Aerasto

by Aunaka



Series: Heroes of Aerasto [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 13:29:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12013758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aunaka/pseuds/Aunaka
Summary: Original work in a Dungeons and Dragons type world that was created by myself.Taliah is a young half-elf living in the same crafting village of Moonshore which rests on the shores of Blood Drop Lake a body of water shrouded in mysticism. It's nearly the Fall Festival of Lights and this is the year that Taliah will learn who she really is, but is it what she is expecting? Or will she be pushed into an adventure she would have never embarked on herself.





	Hero of Aerasto

The young woman stood looking out across the lake, it’s glass smooth surface reflecting the rising sun coming from behind her, her sleeping gown blew lightly in the soft breeze tossing strands of her curling golden hair around her face revealing slightly pointed ears one with a scar across the top as if someone had tried to clip them too many years ago to count. A peaceful smile grew across her round face as the first high pitched song of the morning birds sang across from the woods. Her full cheeks were blushed pink from the chilled morning, but she didn’t care, today was the start of the festival and this would be the last morning she would have peace and quiet on her plot of the lake. 

She lifted her arms to the sky, the sleeves falling down exposing her pale porcelain skin to the golden light, absorbing the warmth that started to spread across the land, it felt like the Goddess Laurelis was enveloping her into the warm embrace of the lights and sun. She stood like this for another moment stretching the sleep from her muscles, and twisted into a graceful spin humming to herself. On a sigh she turned back looking at her tent that was setup on the outskirts of the village that took up most of the south-west side of Blood Drop Lake, she preferred it like that away from the day to day bustle of the rustic crafting village. Her tent may not have been one of the large glamorous ones that the more popular craftsman had, but it was hers. She’d worked most of the past three years to get the materials and build the structure. It was big enough for her and the cat, that was all she needed since she had no family of her own. 

She walked to her fire pit, pausing along the way to run and hand over the back of her cat who lay lazily in the sun, his soft black fur was already warmed from the sun, and he looked up opening one green eye halfway to see who would dare to disturb his slumber. The wild cat which was easily four times the size of an average cat, stood up his long muscled legs stretching, his back arching up a shudder rippling through the midnight fur, and pushing his head against Taliah’s elbow. Absently licking her before trotting along to the pit where Taliah picked up several pieces of smaller wood from her pile and added it to the still smoldering coals. She’d found Calric as a kit in the forest three years ago and thought he was a full grown cat, not until the he had started to grow larger and larger did she realize that she’d found one of the rarer wild cats. They could get almost a large as a pony, this one must have been abandoned by it’s mother as the runt. She loved him and Calric was very protective of Taliah. 

When the cat let out a deep yowl, she turned in time to hear the shout that came from the lake, a woman strode toward her lifting a hand in a gesture of welcome, but made sure that her hair covered her ears. The older woman was much shorter and stockier than Taliah’s tall willowy frame, and her gait gave away an ailing hip that was bothered by the slightest chill. Her stark grey hair was pulled back into a tight bun, it pulled at the sagging skin of her aging face, and made her look sour even if she tried to smile, which wasn’t too often these days. “Taliah, up early as always?” It was meant as a greeting, but sounded more like an accusation. “Don’t you think you could use a little more sleep? You look flushed.” The woman stepped toward her extending a hand, but Taliah backed away.

“I’m quite well, just chilled is all.” Taliah snapped a little at the woman and cringed slightly knowing it wasn’t helpful. “What I meant was, thank you, but I’m very well. Just appreciating the quiet before everyone starts to arrive.” 

She picked up a long stick that had a chard end, and poked at the tender that was starting to smoke and catch, the smoke blew into her eyes and up her nose. It bothered most people but she loved the woody scent even if it did burn her sensitive eyes a little. 

The older woman, went and picked up a larger piece of wood off the pile obviously at home, even if it did make Taliah uncomfortable, and laid it across the tender with practiced care so it wouldn’t destroy the delicate branches. “You know one of these days you’ll be happy that Moonshore attracts so many travelers. You never know you might find someone that is willing to wed you despite your maladies.” The insult was so common that she actually said it with a loving tone of concern. 

Taliah grit her teeth and smiled. “You’re right Maeve, I may one day be so lucky.” Fortunately for Taliah, Maeve wasn’t particularly listening to her and just nodded. “If you’ll excuse me though I do have much to prepare before people start to arrive.” Taliah hoped that would be the end of the conversation.

Maeve looked up as if she’d just realized Taliah had been speaking. “Oh, yes, are you going to want me to sell your wears? You know how people feel about buying from a Slighted.” The derogatory term used to describe those born from an elf and a human was offensive to her when anyone said it, but when the woman who adopted her, no matter how hesitantly, said it the cut was still deep. The fact that it was said in a maternal tone did nothing to soften the blow of her words, and Taliah frowned turning away from her. 

“No, I will be selling them myself this year.” She hadn’t heard Maeve step closer and flinched with the woman’s swollen fingers pulled her night dress up to cover the long red scares that scraped down over her shoulder blades, three on each side. Taliah shrugged her off, Maeve hated when people saw the scares for her it was just one more thing that made Taliah different. “Also, I’m going to see the Oracle this year!” She blurted the words out in a fit of rebellion. 

Maeve let loose a haughty laugh, before grabbing Taliah’s arm, perhaps a little too hard, and turned the young woman to face her. “You’ll do no such thing. You’d go and bring shame to your father and your mother, but making a spectacle of yourself? The Oracle only reads the destiny of the most worthy. No Oracle would ever read a Slighted, you’ll do well to learn your place in this land.”

Taliah pulled her arm away from her “mother”, “I am no more your daughter than you are my mother and it’s far past time that we pretend. Now get off of my land.” Taliah did not wait to see if the woman would respond, she turned and escaped to the inside of her tent. She so wished she could have stood her ground and faced the glaring eyes of Maeve, but this morning she didn’t have that strength. 

Inside the tent she sat down on the small hay mattress, her hands covering her face and took several deep breaths. After a moment Calric entered the tent and she knew that Maeve had left. The cat came over and laid his head in Taliah’s lap both as a form of solidarity as it was to get scratched. She obliged and scratch the sensitive spot behind the large cats ears. Calric purred deeply and tried his best to slyly climb into Taliah’s lap, but he was no kitten anymore and only managed to put his paws up before the woman let out a half laugh, half cry the angry tears running down her face.

“You my dear cannot fit in my lap anymore, plus we have to much to do today. We will sell some of these rugs if it’s the last thing we do.” Taliah gestured to the far side of the tent where her loom took up most of the space, it sat next to her spindle where she made the threads and yarn. Her tent always smelled of all the elements of the forest, since she made her own dye crushed herbs and stones littered her work space, and there in the corner were a neat stack of rugs.

The colors were so vibrant and mixed that it looked like a sea of emotions flowing along the pile. It was for that talent that Taliah knew Maeve was most mad, if she sold her work than she got to keep a share of the profits, and Taliah’s work sold very well. Maeve had tried for years to mimic her style of weaving but there was something that she missed, Taliah didn’t know how she did it, but when she worked with the delicate threads it was like they were alive and spoke to her, they showed her how to make the patterns that lived in her imagination. She listened to her work and did as it asked, mixing this different coloring methods together to achieve a tapestry of emotions. Her rugs didn’t really have designs as much as they had feelings. 

The work that she’d started last night lay on the loom, broad splashed of deep red and bright yellows. She looked down at her delicate hands and could see that the tips were still stained with the dyes she made, she smiled and decided that she wouldn’t scrub it off today, normally Maeve would make her scrub until she was clean always berating her for having stained fingers. She didn’t need to listen to her anymore.

Taliah stood from the bed and dislodged an unappreciative Calric from her lap, who gave a muffed mew and trotted outside. Taliah went to the large wardrobe that a woodcrafter had made for her in trade last year, she ran her hand over the twisted, smooth wood, she loved that it was unstained it felt like she had a bit of the forest right here in her small home. The crafter had been an apprentice so the design was flawed, it didn’t have the practiced work of a master crafter, but she’d been drawn to the way the young man had treated the wood. He was an elf, and you could tell that he loved the wood he worked with, he hadn’t thought of it as means to an end, he’d treated it like it was a friend. She’d taken him to her tent on the last night of the festival and they’d made love silently and sweetly afterward he asked if he could trade her for one of her rugs. A way to remember her he’d said, the next day he’d brought the wardrobe she’d been watching him work on the entire festival. She hadn’t thought it was a fair trade, but it was his choice and she loved the constant reminder of that sweet festival. There was a small part of her that hoped she’d see him again this year, but the traders and craftsmen had many options of places to visit and it was rare to see them two years in a row. 

She pulled open the door and chose her best dress for the first day of festival, her delicate features, and sun blonde hair worked best with lighter tones, but the season for those had past and she pulled down one of her darker dresses. This one was the color of the sky on a full moon, a dark blue with strands of white almost sliver woven throughout to mimic the stars that danced around the moon. She pulled off her night dress, revealing the large scars that crossed her back like a beast had raked his claws down her back, the darker almost purple skin clashed so completely with the paler of the rest that they seemed to bleed. Taliah, picked up a bottle of liquid and pour out a palm full, dripping it over the front of her body, letting it slide cooly down her chest and over her well developed breasts and nipples. She rubbed the lotion in enjoying the scent of lavender and lemons as it danced over the slight curve of her stomach and down to her sex, she rubbed it into her long lean legs, and around her arms. Finally she grabbed her basic undergarments tying the strings that held her britches up, and securing the lacing in the front of her day to day girdle. She pulled the dress over her head and let the flow of fabric fall around her, before picking up her basic leather belt with it’s pouches filled with the plants and rocks she would find in the surrounding forest to make her dyes. She secured the belt, and pulled out a strip of leather from one of the pouches using it to loosely tie back the mass of blonde curls, making sure that it covered the points of her ears.

Slighted were generally not welcomed in the province of Ansmaria, though Moonshore with it’s creative castoffs was a little more accepting. Taliah had been very lucky that the only elvish aspect she’d inherited from one of her parents had been her thin lithe body and her ears. She traced the one with the scar absently now, remembering the time that Maeve had tried to cut off the tip for her own good, Hennrick, her adopted father had come back in time to stop the woman, but it left Taliah with a disfiguring scar as a reminder of how much her “mother” loved her. She shook her head snapping her back to reality, she pushed the hair back, and pulled a few strands loose to fall around her face, she wasn’t vain, wasn’t trying to impress anyone, but a fine face could sell more than a homely one. 

She opened the simple canvas door to her tent and was surprised by how much had already started to change in the village since the sun rose. The craftsmen and merchants were all awake and the noise of work travelled across the water, creating a kind of vocal ripple. She could see them setting up their booths, some would spread out around the lake, encroaching ever closer to her home, and so she went to work constructing her small area. One of the local woodcrafters, Neville had helped her with getting the wood and building the small booth, she started to haul the rugs from her tent out to the work area. She’d strung up a thick line from one of the thick trees in the forest to the corner of her booth giving her a space to lay her work out. She gently lay the rugs over the line making sure to not over burden it, while her work was delicate the under hide she used as backing for the sturdier rugs was heavier and it weighted the line down. 

“Taliah!” The hail came as a surprise and made her stand up straight turning to see who called her. 

Taliah turned to see Neville walking this way, a smile bloomed on her face. Neville was a handsome man, he was taller than most of the men she knew and his shoulders were so broad that his shirts had to be specially made, he was a lumber worker and his arms were large with muscles from hauling fallen trees from the forest. His face was covered in a dark brown beard that he managed to keep relatively neat, as well as his hair which was almost as long as hers and today was tied back in a similar leather thong. Taliah never hoped for much in her life, but if she could have chosen her life mate it would likely have been someone like Neville, but he going to make a human woman a wonderful husband one day. His long strides brought him to her quickly, and he wrapped his arms around her waist giving her a hardy hug, pressing her slight frame against his large and solid one. She laughed, pushing back from him playfully.

“Neville, what are you doing all the way down here?” Taliah straightened her dress as best she could once he’s put her back on the ground. 

“Needed to make sure that my construction was holding up under the weight of your work.” He stepped back surveying her work in ernest, and gave a stern nod. “It looks like you’ve got everything set up without me.” 

Taliah smile beamed and she stood next to him with her hands planted firmly on her hips, surveyed her work and gave a mocking nod as well. “As such.”

“Listen, Taliah,” Neville started the sentence in a much more serious tone than she was accustom to and she turned to face him with a curious look on her face. He was fiddling absently with his leather belt, running a thumb over the top of his large metal hammer. Taliah could see he was nervous about something, but they’d been friends for most of her life and could think what he could have to be nervous about.

She laid a hand on his arm hoping that it would calm him, but he jumped and her smile turned to concern. “Neville for the sake of the Gods what is it?”

“Would you, would you do me the honor of a dance at First Night this evening?” His words tumbled out of his mouth and his face grew a shade more red.

A bubble of laughter spilled out of her mouth. “Neville, of course I will. I’ve danced with you every First Night since we were children, why would this be any different?” The question was so silly to her that she turned back to fiddle with the lay of her more delicate material on the table of her booth.

“What I mean is, would you dance the last dance with me?” Neville’s tone was shy and quiet.

Taliah’s back straightened, she didn’t turn around yet. The last dance at First Night was generally saved for those that were to be wed, or those that were betrothed. Taliah didn’t dare to think what he meant by this, he’d never showed any interest in her romantically, and it wasn’t something that she was thinking about for herself. She didn’t have much interest in being wed or raising a family. She cleared her throat and turned to him a shy smile on her face. “Perhaps, maybe not the last dance, but a dance for certain. I’m going to have my destiny read by the Oracle this evening and it sometimes happens during First Night. I don’t want you to miss out on the dance, you should dance with a lot of the women you’re quite good.” The laid a hand on his shoulder in what she hoped would be seen as a friendly show of support, but the frown on his face showed that she was wrong.

Neville nodded his stern face, “Of course, but I will be expecting that dance at some point.” He stepped back from her and gave a flash of a grin. “I must be going now.” He turned and left. 

Taliah gave a resolute sigh and turned back to her work, she wasn’t the woman for him. Neville needed a good human woman, someone who could give him strong children, someone that wasn’t shunned by society. She rubbed the chill that had settled into her arms and turned to face her lake. She didn’t care if she needed to sell everything that she owned, she would see the Oracle tonight, she would finally find out what was in store for her, even if it wasn’t good.

**Author's Note:**

> There will be many, many more chapters to this.


End file.
